NTLHOS Book 2: Chapter 38: Diversion
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"Oppose me, if you can." Oda Nobinaga
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Now:
Hiruzen Sarutobi's breath misted in the cooling afternoon air as he stood in the shattered clearing, Adamantine Staff clutched tight in his hands. The remains of scorched pine trees and upturned earth lay strewn around him from the earlier explosive tags, tendrils of smoke curling upward. Danzo landed beside him in a defensive stance, the single visible eye of his mask-like bandages narrowed. Across from them, stepping lightly over a fallen oak, was the last man Hiruzen wanted to encounter at a time like this. Nobinaga Yukesen.
Clad in dark lamellar armor from a bygone era, Nobinaga stood. He rested one hand casually on the hilt of his sword sheathed at his waist. The late-day light caught the steel of his blade's exposed guard.
"Well met, old friends," Nobinaga said softly. There was a mocking lilt to his words, and an unsettling ease as he faced two of Konoha's most formidable alone. "In quite a rush, aren't we? You know, it's not healthy for men of our age to be so hasty."
Hiruzen felt his jaw clench. A spike of fury and worry lanced through him, but decades of discipline kept his face neutral. He could not afford to show weakness or impatience, not to this man. "Nobinaga," he acknowledged curtly, the grip on the staff tightened. "I don't have time for whatever this is. Move."
Danzo's fingers twitched near a holster hidden under his cloak, likely itching to unleash a wind blade. His voice came out low and dangerous: "Stand aside, Yukesen. We don't have time for you, if you interfere..."
Nobinaga chuckled, a deep sound that reverberated through the clearing. "If I interfere? Danzo, old friend, I'm not here to interfere." He tilted his head, eyes gleaming with a predatory glint. "I'm here to ensure destiny takes its proper course."
Without taking his eyes off them, Nobinaga reached into his armored kimono and produced a small slip of paper. An explosive tag, identical to the ones that had forced Hiruzen and Danzo to halt here. He twirled it between two fingers. "You see, Sarutobi Hiruzen, your precious village's time atop the world is over. As long as you live and Konoha stands with you, my long-planned strike on Uzushio will never succeed. Your contract with 'him'… they shield those who should rightfully be destroyed." His voice hardened, eyes narrowing. "My campaign against Uzushio, against all who oppose me was thwarted only because you threw your weight around and forged that cursed pact. I will not have my ambitions caged by your greed. Nor will I wait for the lord of those cursed isles to return."
Hiruzen's grip tightened on the staff. Uzushio… all this for Uzushio. A memory flickered: at a summit, his younger face stared down an even younger Nobinaga across a map of the Elemental Nations. But then, the two had met to discuss a new treaty, the Konoha–Uzushio alliance, where Hiruzen represented Lord Tobirama and Nobinaga represented Lord Ashina. Nobinaga had been adamant that the alliance run deeper, like a reunion of two families, the Senju and the Uzumaki, rather than the purely benefit-based pacts villages and clans relies on, which collapse when mutual gain evaporates. Hiruzen had agreed to such a binding treaty only to appease lord second… now when there is no formal alliance only a pact till Naruto Uzumaki returns, yet now Nobinaga sought to destroy even that. How poetic. He is still bitter.
"You damned fool," Hiruzen growled. "If you really want to destroy Uzushio, wait until Naruto Uzumaki returns, then show your might, or are you too scared? Instead of skulking around, be a man and kill your nemesis, Naruto Uzumaki. Nothing says you can't confront him. My protection of Uzushio is limited to the Uzushio Isles. Have you joined the Akatsuki? Cooperate with me now and after the pact is done…"
"Cooperate? Join hands once more for old times' sake?" Nobinaga's lip curled in a sneer. "Don't insult me. There was a time I believed as you did that we might build a better future together, but peace was never profitable for me. Unlike Lord Tobirama, who made you Hokage, Lord Ashina betrayed me after all I sacrificed for him. War is a far better crucible for greatness." He slid his foot forward, shifting his stance. "No, I'm not here to reminisce or bargain, Hiruzen. I'm here to eliminate Konoha's shield… or at least hold it occupied until Konoha lies in rubble. Then I will turn my blades on Uzushio."
Danzo stiffened as realization dawned. "He knows," Danzo hissed sideways to Hiruzen. "He knows about Pain…"
"While your village burns," Nobinaga finished, smile widening into something truly cruel. "I owe Akatsuki no loyalty, but their leader's goals align neatly with mine today. Let the God of Shinobi be kept far from his throne while the disaster ravages his home." He cocked his head, almost pityingly. "I wonder, Sarutobi, how much will remain of your precious Konoha in, say, next few hours?"
Hiruzen's heart thundered in his chest. Hours… that was likely all Nagato needed to rip the village apart. I have to end this quickly. He exchanged a glance with Danzo. Danzo's lone eye gleamed. In unison, they moved.
Danzo's hand flashed through signs. "Now."
From the dark canopy above, black-ops shinobi in animal-masked uniforms dropped into the clearing, ROOT operatives who had been trailing their master. Five, ten, fifteen of them emerged from the shadows among the sundered trees, silent and deadly. In a blink, Nobinaga was encircled by a dozen elite assassins.
Nobinaga's eyes flicked around at the sudden ring of masked foes. He let out a disappointed sigh. "Really, Danzo? Hiding shinobi in the shadows, waiting for a chance at my back? Some things never change with you." He lifted his hand from his sword hilt and stretched his fingers, loosening his wrists, as if preparing for a casual exercise. "Very well then…"
Hiruzen inhaled. He knew these ROOT fighters were among Danzo's best… utterly without fear. he had seen Nobinaga's powers firsthand long ago. "Careful!" Hiruzen barked at them. "Don't underes…"
It was too late. Danzo's squad struck in coordinated silence, a well-oiled machine. Kunai glinted as they converged from all sides, exploiting every blind angle. Two came from behind at his flanks, blades aimed for the kidneys, another vaulted in overhead, sword descending for Nobinaga's skull; the rest pressed from front and sides with an array of ninjutsu, a burst of wind-chakra blades, a chain of crackling lightning from a talisman, even a barrage of shuriken enhanced by Wind Style: Vacuum Blade (Fūton: Shinkūjin) to slice through steel.
For an instant, Nobinaga was lost from sight in the flurry of slashes and elemental fury. Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. Too easy…
"Scatter, now!" Hiruzen shouted on instinct.
A heartbeat later, a harsh metallic CLANG resounded, followed by screams. In a blur of impossible speed, Nobinaga moved. The ring of shinobi suddenly exploded outward. A severed arm, still gripping a kunai, spiraled through the air. One ROOT ninja's head toppled from his shoulders before he even hit the ground. Another gurgled, looking down in disbelief at the sword that had impaled him through the chest, Nobinaga's blade, unsheathed so fast it hadn't even registered to Hiruzen's eyes until it was already drinking blood.
Nobinaga tore his sword free, its long steel length shimmering with residual lightning chakra. He spun gracefully, blade whistling. A torrent of blood arced across the clearing as three more operatives collapsed, nearly cut in two by a single stroke. Only one ninja remained alive and unhurt, a young masked woman who had reflexively heeded Hiruzen's shout to scatter. She skidded to a halt several yards back.
Nobinaga flicked his sword sharply to the side, droplets of blood sloughing off the blade. He fixed his gaze on the lone survivor. "Begone." His voice was calm, almost gentle, but carried an implicit promise of death should she hesitate. She did not. Then Danzo motioned. With a shunshin, the last ROOT vanished back into the forest, fleeing toward the direction of Konoha.
Danzo's teeth ground audibly. He had not even had time to perform a single jutsu in support; the slaughter was instantaneous. Rage contorted his blank features. "You…!"
Nobinaga simply smiled that infuriatingly calm smile and lowered his sword to point at Danzo. "Your dogs have been put down. Still eager to challenge me yourself, Shimura?"
Hiruzen saw Danzo's shoulders bunch, saw the man prepare to launch one of his lethal Wind Style attacks in anger. Hiruzen thrust an arm out, barring Danzo's path. "Enough!" Hiruzen's command was iron. "Danzo, go. Now."
Danzo whipped his head towards Hiruzen. "You can't seriously expect me to leave you here also…"
"I do," Hiruzen snapped, eyes never leaving Nobinaga. He could feel chakra surging through his old friend-turned-enemy, Nobinaga wasn't even winded from killing those operatives. If anything, he looked disappointed how quickly it ended. "Our priority is the village. Return to Konoha and bolster its defenses. That's an order."
For a moment, Danzō hesitated, his fingers twitching near the wrappings on his arm where dangerous secrets lay sealed. The air was thick with the copper tang of blood and the ozone crackle of Nobunaga's lightning-coated blade. Finally, with an angry grunt, he acquiesced.
"Try not to die, Hiruzen," he muttered.
In a swirl of leaves, Danzō Shimura vanished from the clearing, racing toward the distant plumes of smoke smudging the horizon above the trees. He wasn't overly concerned about Hiruzen's death in the conventional sense—yet if the old Hokage fell or was too wounded to save the village, Danzō would become the scapegoat for abandoning his Kage. Even if he claimed it was on Hiruzen's orders, his reputation would condemn him as a conspirator in Konoha's downfall… or in Hiruzen's death.
Hiruzen exhaled slowly. Now it was just him and Nobinaga. In onion two of last few relics of a bygone era, if they go at it truly it may reawaken the horrors of that age.
Nobinaga, seeing Danzo depart, inclined his head to Hiruzen. "Ordering him away? You never cease to surprise. You do realize he might seize your village for himself in the chaos, "Hmm?"
A ghost of a smile tugged at Hiruzen's lips despite the gravity of the moment. "If Danzō tries anything, I'll deal with it after I've dealt with you. And you should realize…" He slowly spun his Adamantine Staff in one hand, the weapon extending to full combat length with a metallic gleam. "I am not as sentimental as I once was. I will stop you, Nobinaga, by any means necessary."
Nobinaga's smile thinned into a focused line. He adjusted his grip on his sword, its edge glowing blue with channeled chakra from the corrupted Storm Release. "I would expect nothing less from the Professor, 'God of Shinobi,' they call you. What a joke." He raised the blade in a warrior's salute. "Come then, Hiruzen! Show me how you fooled the world into believing you hold a candle to Lord Hashirama!"
With a roar, Hiruzen lunged. The forest floor shook under the force of his takeoff, dirt erupting where his sandals had been. He swept the Adamantine Staff in a wide horizontal arc aimed at Nobinaga's midsection, its extending pole whistling through the air with colossal force.
Nobinaga met the strike head-on. Sword and staff clashed, and a shockwave blasted outward from the impact, rattling branches and blowing leaves off nearby trees. The adamantine vs. steel rang out, echoing through the clearing. Hiruzen followed up immediately, twisting his weapon and bringing it down in an overhead smash meant to crack bone and earth alike. Nobinaga sidestepped with uncanny speed for a man of his years, the staff hitting empty ground and cratering the dirt with a thunderous crash. Without pause, Nobinaga riposted, his ōdachi a silver blur aimed for Hiruzen's flank.
Hiruzen yanked the staff up just in time; metal met metal in a screech of sparks as he parried the blade mere inches from his ribcage. Nobinaga pressed in, flowing from one strike to the next. He became a storm of slashes, each swing of that massive sword impossibly swift and precise. Hiruzen was pushed onto the defensive, staff twirling and jabbing to intercept each deadly cut. Their movements blurred to the eye. In seconds they traded more than dozens of blows.
Hiruzen ducked under a high slash that sliced a huge swath of foliage off a tree behind him, then thrust his staff forward, extending it like a spear. Nobinaga leaned aside; the adamantine tip grazed his cheek, drawing a thin line of blood. Nobinaga's eyes gleamed at the sight of his own blood, and he spun into a roundhouse kick aimed at Hiruzen's temple.
The Third Hokage snapped his staff up to block the kick. Even through the unbreakable adamantine, he felt the power of the blow reverberate down into his arms. He's strong… damn that storm release… While Nobinaga was physically larger than Hiruzen.
Hiruzen backflipped to gain distance, landing in a skid across torn grass. As he slid to a stop, he flew through hand seals. A deep inhale, then he expelled a massive stream of fire bullets, spitting them in rapid succession. "Fire Style: Flame Dragon Bullet (Katon: Karyūdan)!" He punctuated this with a one-handed seal slamming into the ground. The earth beneath Nobinaga liquefied into a muddy river racing toward the swordsman's feet: Earth Style: Earth Flow River (Doton: Doryū Taiga).
The mud flow churned forward, threatening to swallow Nobinaga's footing. At the same time, Hiruzen's flaming dragon rained down, each superheated orb igniting the viscous mud in searing explosions of fire. In an instant, the area Nobinaga stood on was engulfed in an inferno atop a mudslide.
Hiruzen squinted through the rising wall of steam. Too easy…
A sudden hissing sound answered. From within the cloud of steam, streaks of electric-blue light shot out. Hiruzen's eyes widened. He recognized that chakra signature, Lightning Style. "Scattershot, is it…?" he murmured.
The bolts of lightning carved through the steam, zigzagging unpredictably. Hiruzen vaulted straight up with an acrobatic leap; one bolt passed just beneath his feet, blowing apart the log behind him in a shower of splinters. Two more crackling lances corrected course mid-air, homing on Hiruzen's chakra signature. An advanced technique, multiple guided lightning beams.
Hiruzen brought his staff around and channeled chakra into it. The Adamantine Staff elongated and whirled like a helicopter blade around him, forming a rapid defensive spin. The first lightning beam smashed against the spinning adamantine, deflecting off into the sky with a thunderclap. The second he narrowly diverted down into the ground at his side, where it burst, vitrifying sand into glass. Hiruzen landed back lightly, scanning for his adversary.
Nobinaga emerged from the dissipating steam, hardly worse for wear. A thin sheen of water glistened on his armor and skin, which he seemingly had used to dampen the flames, and faint arcs of electricity still crackled around his sword.
"You have not lost your edge, casting a Fire Release jutsu with one hand and an Earth–Water combination with the next. You truly are a master of all five elements.
I don't have time to banter with you, Nobinaga."
He had neutralized the mudfire trap by countering with a Storm Release technique. Nobinaga flicked two fingers forward and the remaining streaks of electrified water in the air coalesced and darted at Hiruzen's back in a pincer maneuver.
"Storm Release: Laser Circus (Ranton: Reizā Sākasu)," Nobinaga intoned almost lazily.
Hiruzen felt the incoming danger from behind and grimaced. Too fast to dodge, so instead he substituted. The twin lightning-water beams skewered a broken chunk of log in a puff of smoke, the log Hiruzen had swapped with. In a blur, the real Hiruzen appeared behind Nobinaga, already weaving new seals.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough (Fūton: Daitoppā)!" Hiruzen exhaled a gust of wind chakra from his lungs. At this range, it slammed into Nobinaga like a giant's punch, intending to send him hurtling.
But Nobinaga had anticipated. He skidded only slightly, anchoring himself by stabbing his sword halfway into the ground. With one hand now free, he formed a quick single-handed seal of his own. The air around Nobinaga shimmered and suddenly, water burst outward from his person in an expanding sphere. "Water Style: Water Formation Wall (Suiton: Suijinheki)!"
A swirling dome of water materialized, dousing the oncoming wind jutsu's power. Hiruzen's gale scattered into harmless breezes against the surging water barrier, splattering moisture across the battlefield. In the same breath, Nobinaga transformed his defense into offense: he clapped his hands together and the protective dome blasted forward in a cascading wave. "Hah!" With a shout, he molded the water into a raging torrent hurtling at Hiruzen.
Hiruzen planted his staff into the earth and channeled chakra, erecting a stone bulwark just in time. "Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall (Doton: Doryūheki)!" A solid wall of rock erupted between him and the oncoming water. The wave smashed into the earth wall, exploding into a spray of mist and filling the air with the roar of foaming water. Cracks spiderwebbed across the stone, chunks breaking, but it held long enough to blunt the force.
Behind his wall, Hiruzen rapidly formed shadow clone hand seals. Two Shadow Clones (Kage Bunshin no Jutsu) poofed into existence at his side. All three Hiruzen immediately leapt up to perch atop the damaged wall. With perfect synchronicity born of countless battles, they launched into further action.
The first clone inhaled deeply. Flames flickered in his gullet. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu (Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu)!" he spat, releasing a volley of small fireballs peppering toward Nobinaga. Mid-flight, the second clone flashed through his own seals and transformed the fireballs with a gale of wind: "Wind Style: Phoenix Gale (Fūton: Hōōgarasu)!" Each tiny fireball expanded into a much larger, white-hot blossom of flame roaring toward the target.
Nobinaga's eyes narrowed at the approaching conflagration. He whipped through seals at blinding speed. Water chakra surged. "Water Style: Tearing Torrent (Suiton: Hahonryū)!" With a thrust of his free palm, spiraling columns of water drilled out from the puddles around his feet, meeting the phoenix fire head-on. Steam exploded where water and fire clashed, hissing clouds engulfing the field.
Hiruzen's real body used the billowing steam as cover. He and his two clones dashed through the obscuring vapor from three different angles, coordinating silently. One Hiruzen came in high from the left, staff raised to strike; another flanked low from the right, kunai drawn; the real Hiruzen bore straight in from the front, hands crackling with raw lightning chakra.
They fell upon Nobinaga like a three-pronged lightning strike. Enma, in staff form, swung down at Nobinaga's skull. Nobinaga moved with preternatural awareness despite the fog, he caught the adamantine staff on the flat of his blade, muscles straining as he halted its descent. In the same breath, he pivoted and launched a back-thrust kick at the low clone rushing his right. His sandal connected with the clone's chest in a bone-shattering hit; the clone barely had time to grunt before it burst into smoke from the impact. At that exact moment, the real Hiruzen closed in from the front, thrusting his crackling palm toward Nobinaga's torso: "Lightning Style: Thunder Crash (Raiton: Raikōgeki)!"
A sphere of blue-white lightning erupted point-blank. Nobinaga had no room to dodge; the electric blast engulfed him. The clearing lit up in a sizzling glare of light. For an instant, Hiruzen allowed himself hope that the direct hit had landed. But through the harsh light, he glimpsed Nobinaga's form… and something was off. Nobinaga's outline flickered.
"Genjutsu? No… a speed clone!" Hiruzen realized too late. The Nobinaga skewered by lightning flickered and vanished, a water clone, dissipating into a splash. A decoy!
The real Nobinaga materialized from Hiruzen's left, having shunshined at the last second. His sword was already raised high, gathering a spinning vortex of water around its blade. "Water Style: Raging Typhoon Slash (Suiton: Arashi Tatsumaki)!" Nobinaga swung in a wide arc. The water chakra spiraled off the blade in a slicing crescent, a miniature typhoon of vacuumed water pressure.
Hiruzen's remaining clone, still perched by the broken wall, jumped to intercept with a desperate war cry, thrusting its staff forward to block the slicing wave. The typhoon blade sheared straight through the clone and its staff, dispelling it in a puff of smoke, and continued on to carve a deep gash across Hiruzen's stone wall, cleaving it diagonally. Hiruzen himself barely avoided being bisected; he had thrown himself flat when the clone intervened, and the water crescent passed inches above him, cutting several strands of his grey hair before plowing into the forest behind. Dozens of trees in its path were cleaved cleanly and toppled with resounding crashes.
Hiruzen rolled back to his feet, panting slightly. That had been close, without the clone's interference, he'd have lost his head. Through the thinning steam, he and Nobinaga locked eyes again, each now standing amidst a scene of destruction. The clearing was unrecognizable: the ground churned and scarred by explosions and jutsu, scorch marks and patches of mud everywhere, a swath of forest behind Hiruzen now felled by the typhoon slash. Wisps of smoke and mist drifted between them.
Nobinaga slowly exhaled, his breath visible in the damp air. "Excellent, Hiruzen! Simply excellent!" he said, genuine admiration in his tone. His armor was scorched in places, and blood seeped from a shallow cut on his cheek and another on his forearm, but he still stood tall and eager. "You've not lost a step. five decades since we last crossed blades, yet you fight as though in your prime." He clenched his free hand, and Hiruzen noticed faint green markings glow along Nobinaga's forearm and neck, strange seal tattoos pulsating once with natural energy before fading. Nobinaga rolled his shoulders, and Hiruzen felt the ambient chakra around the man spike further. "Enough fooling around, let's bring out the real ammo!"
Hiruzen braced himself, forcing calm into his mind. This battle was already beyond anything nearby shinobi could handle, good that Danzo and the others had left.
Nobinaga was not going to allow it. With a fierce grin, he sheathed his sword, an odd move, only to slam both palms together. Chakra flared around him in a visible aura. Hiruzen felt the ground beneath his sandals hum with an ominous vibration.
All across the clearing, previously unseen seals etched on the earth and rocks suddenly glowed a cold blue. Hiruzen's eyes widened in recognition, at some point during the fight, or perhaps even before it, Nobinaga had laid down a fūinjutsu field across this terrain. A complex one.
"He prepared the battlefield…" Hiruzen muttered, stunned despite himself. He should have guessed; Nobinaga was a sealing grand master and a consummate tactician
"Heheheh… Sealing Art: Quaking Dragon Earth Seal (Fūinjutsu: Shinryū Jishin Fūin)!" Nobinaga roared, slamming a hand onto one glowing formula at his feet.
The ground answered with a roar of its own. In an instant, the entire clearing rose and fell in violent undulations. The earth bucked as if a mighty dragon were trying to burst free from underground. Jagged fissures ripped through the soil. Trees swayed and toppled, the terrain itself transforming into a nightmare of shifting rock and landslides. It was an earthquake, no, more localized and directed than a natural quake. It was as if the land had come alive under Nobinaga's will, thrashing to throw Hiruzen off balance.
Hiruzen had to leap straight up onto a still-standing tree trunk to avoid a fissure that opened where he'd stood. A split-second slower and it would have swallowed his legs. He bounded from trunk to trunk as the very forest collapsed and rearranged below. One slab of earth jutted upward like a rising pillar, and Hiruzen landed atop it, struggling to keep footing on the shaking spire.
With a sweeping gesture, Nobinaga directed the chaos. Segments of rock and soil lurched upward in a wave, then converged, trying to smash Hiruzen between them like the jaws of a giant beast. Hiruzen summoned every ounce of his agility, kicking off one rising boulder to another, narrowly escaping as two earthen masses collided with a thunderous crash where he'd just been. Debris flew in all directions.
High on a fractured ledge, Nobinaga laughed, the wind whipping his white hair. He truly looked like a mad man now. "Do you feel it, Hiruzen? The world itself fights for me!"
Hiruzen refused to be overawed. Balancing on a quaking slab of rock, he wove signs and pressed his palms to the stone he stood on. He channelled humongous amount of chakra, wresting some control back. "Enough of your tricks, Nobinaga." His eyes glowed grey. "Two can play at the terrain game… Earth Style: Moving Earth Core (Doton: Chidōkaku)!"
With great effort, Hiruzen forced the pillar of earth he stood on to sink and level out, breaking the seals' control with an unheard-of degree of mastery. Nearby, another trembling mound obeyed his chakra and flattened. Bit by bit, Hiruzen's counterforce stabilized a small zone around him. The quake seal still raged farther out, but Hiruzen now had solid ground beneath his feet once more.
Nobinaga's brow rose in surprise as Hiruzen neutralized a portion of his trap. "The Professor lives up to his name," he mused, almost delighted. "Adapting my own seal technique so quickly… But can you handle this?"
He formed a quick series of one-handed seals, his other hand still maintaining the earth-shaking fūinjutsu. A second pattern of sealing script ignited across the rubble at Hiruzen's 8 o'clock. Hiruzen caught the flicker of light there and tensed. Another trap!
"Sealing Art: Coursing Thunder Prison (Fūinjutsu: Raifūjin)!" Nobinaga cried. One of the fallen giant oak trunks, now lying across two boulders, suddenly sparked alive with crackling electric energy. In an instant, it unleashed itself in the form of dozens of branching lightning tendrils that danced through the air toward Hiruzen, turning the space around him into a cage of lightning.
The arcs coiled and struck like serpents. Hiruzen was forced to abandon his hard-won stable ground. He leapt high as one lightning whip scorched the spot where his feet had been, then twisted acrobatically mid-air to avoid two more that lashed out, charring the hem of his battle robe. Even as he twisted, Hiruzen spat out several small projectiles from his mouth—tiny mud pellets formed from Earth chakra. With a hand sign, he transmuted them mid-flight: "Earth Style: Mud Gun (Doton: Deidotō)!"
Each pellet expanded and hardened into a bullet of compressed earth, shooting toward Nobinaga. They were not powerful, but they served their purpose: Nobinaga had to cut off the lightning prison seal to dodge, swinging his sword to deflect the hardened projectiles. The moment his attention shifted from the quake seal, the violent upheavals lessened.
Hiruzen landed atop a broken stone outcrop, seizing the opening. Drawing on deep reserves, he decided to unveil a jutsu he hadn't used in years, one befitting a Sage of the Monkey Temple. He sheathed Enma's staff form across his back for a moment and clasped his hands in an all-too-familiar cross shape. "Shadow Clone Jutsu," he uttered, but this time he fed far more chakra into it than before. Four shadow clones poofed into existence around him, each immediately taking off in a different direction to surround Nobinaga. Five Hiruzen positions, one on each side and one above, boxing him.
Nobinaga's eyes darted to each clone, recognizing the classical formation. He drew his sword back, wary. "Hmph. Spreading yourself thin, aren't you?"
The five Hiruzen spoke as one, their voices echoing: "We'll see." In perfect unison, they formed the five elemental hand seals. It was time to prove why he was called the Master of All Five Natures. What few realized was that Enma—even in his staff form—could channel natural chakra into Hiruzen on contact, much like Samehada. Thanks to that bond, Hiruzen could emulate the First Hokage's instant Sage Mode, but to unlock the full Monkey Sage Mode, he would still have to rely entirely on his own strength.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Bomb (Katon: Karyūdan)!" one clone roared, spewing a massive dragon-headed fire stream.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet (Suiton: Suiryūdan)!" another yelled, manifesting a serpentine column of water that coiled around to Nobinaga's right.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Great Sphere (Fūton: Shinkū Taigyoku)!" shouted the third, releasing a condensed ball of slicing wind that flew along with the fire dragon, feeding it oxygen and stoking its heat to white-hot.
"Lightning Style: False Darkness (Raiton: Gian)!" cried the fourth, firing twin spears of piercing lightning aimed to converge with the water dragon, electrifying it into a thunderous, writhing serpent of storm.
And the real Hiruzen, standing center-front, slammed both palms to the ground, calling on the earth itself: "Earth Style: Great Earth Spear (Doton: Doryūsō)!" In an instant, the ground under Nobinaga erupted with a cluster of enormous earthen spikes, a forest of spears seeking to impale him from below.
It was a breathtaking, deathly choreography of elemental fury. Five high-level jutsu converged on Nobinaga simultaneously from every direction, flames and wind from above and left, lightning-charged water from the right, earth from below, and the clones pressing in behind each attack to close any gap of escape. It was the same overwhelming combination that once forced back even a Tailed Beast in a distant war.
Nobinaga's eyes widened at the sheer coordination and scale of the assault. But then, Hiruzen saw it, a manic grin split Nobinaga's face. Instead of fear, the his expression was one of exhilaration. He threw his head back and laughed. "YES! That's it, Hiruzen! That's the power I've always wanted to see!"
In that split second as the elemental onslaught reached him, Nobinaga's form shimmered with an intense, pale-green aura. Nature energy, raw and untamed flooded into his body from the environment, channeled by those seal tattoos on his skin. Hiruzen realized Nobinaga was essentially overcharging himself, dipping dangerously into sage arts without any mastery, borrowing power at great risk.
Nobinaga crossed his arms, and in one swift motion slammed his palms outward in both directions. A burst of mixed chakra surged forth: stormy water and lightning to one side, and a rotating wall of slicing wind to the other, imitating two elements at once without hand seals, fueled by that temporary boost of nature energy.
On his right, his self-made bastardized Storm Release collided with the incoming water dragon and lightning spears. The clashing streams of electrified water exploded in a dome of blinding light and steam, neutralizing each other in an ear splitting boom. Simultaneously on his left, the gale he emitted slammed into Hiruzen's fire-enhanced wind ball. For an instant, the sky was filled with a howling maelstrom as winds tore at each other. The fire dragon, robbed of its wind support and met with an opposite gale, dispersed in a rain of embers.
From below, Hiruzen's earthen spikes shot up, but Nobinaga stamped his foot and the quake seal flared one more time, shattering the spikes into rubble before they could skewer him. Debris flew upward around him as the ground convulsed anew in that instant. Nobinaga then lunged straight through the chaos, his figure appearing amid the explosions and dust directly in front of the real Hiruzen.
Hiruzen's eyes widened, so fast! He barely managed to draw Enma from his back again to block as Nobinaga's blade came singing down. The force of it, enhanced by nature chakra, drove Hiruzen to his knees. The clones around them began to evaporate one by one, their chakra used up in the massive combo. The deafening noise of exploding jutsu faded, leaving only the crackle of fires and the rumble of unsettled earth.
Their eyes met, inches apart, Hiruzen straining against the sword locked on his staff, Nobinaga bearing down with gleeful ferocity. For a moment they stayed in deadlock, muscles trembling.
Nobinaga's face was splattered with mud and soot, his hair wild, blood trickling from a cut on his forehead into one eye. He looked every bit a demon general. "Fabulous… simply fabulous, Hiruzen!" he rasped between heavy breaths. "Not since our youth have I had such sport!"
Hiruzen grunted, his arms screaming under the pressure. "You… always did… take our sparring too seriously," he managed through grit teeth. Sparks danced where the sword edge met adamantine staff, neither weapon yielding.
Nobinaga barked a short laugh. "And you never took it seriously enough!" He suddenly pivoted, changing angle. With a surge of chakra-fueled strength, he shoved Hiruzen's staff aside and followed with a crushing elbow to Hiruzen's chest.
The blow landed solidly. Hiruzen felt the breath blasted from his lungs and he flew back, smashing through the trunk of a half-toppled tree. Wood splinters exploded around him as he tumbled and rolled to a stop amidst shattered branches. Pain flared where the elbow had cracked one of his ribs. Even with nature energy, his taijutsu is still that fierce…Hiruzen coughed, tasting copper, blood on his lips.
Through blurred vision he saw Nobinaga approaching slowly, almost casually, clearly winded himself. The unnatural sage-like glow around Nobinaga was already fading; his borrowed burst of power ebbing. He panted, wiping blood and sweat from his brow with the back of one hand. "Had enough, old monkey? Stay down, and I promise your death will be quick. You might even live to see your village's embers as you go."
Hiruzen hauled himself to his feet, using Enma like a cane for a moment. His chest throbbed, but he stood tall regardless. "I'm not… done yet," he pronounced. He drew in a deep breath, steadied his focus, and then Hiruzen let goof the tight rein on his chakra. Time to show Nobinaga that he wasn't the only one who could draw strength from nature.
Quietly, Hiruzen formed the unique seal taught to him by the Monkey Clan—a simple crossing of two fingers. He closed his eyes as he molded chakra in a new way, harmonizing the energy within his body with the natural energy of the world around him, amplifying the flow initiated by Enma. A subtle ripple passed through the remaining trees and rocks as ambient chakra converged upon the Third Hokage.
Nobinaga's confident expression faltered. He sensed the change. "You, what are you doing…?"
Hiruzen's eyes snapped open and they were changed. His dark brown irises were now a gleaming, feral gold. Subtle markings, like smoky grey fur-patterns, appeared on his cheeks. His posture straightened, injury seemingly faded, as a flood of natural power suffused his limbs. The very air around Hiruzen swirled with vitality.
"Sage Art…" Hiruzen's voice was deeper, resonant with power. "Monkey Sage Mode (Enkō Sennin Mōdo)."
Nobinaga sucked in a breath, astonished. "Sage Mode… You as well?!"
Hiruzen allowed himself a small, wry smile. "I've had a few lessons from the Monkey King over the years. Never thought I'd need to use it in full." He lifted Enma's staff off the ground with one hand and gave it a light swing. The air itself boomed and split from the force, a shockwave streaking out and slicing clean through a distant boulder. Hiruzen hadn't even applied that much strength; Sage Mode simply made every move devastating.
Nobinaga cursed under his breath, regaining his composure. His own attempt at aping sage power through seals had been potent, but brief, his body couldn't hold it like a true Sage. Still, the his eyes were alight not with fear, but exhilarated fury. "I won't be outdone… not now!" He snarled and poured his chakra into his blade. Lightning crackled and danced along the sword's length, more intense than before. The ground under Nobinaga blackened from the sheer electric heat.
For a heartbeat, neither elder moved, Sage and warlord facing off for the final bout. The forest remains around them groaned; flames flickered; thunder rumbled overhead as if nature itself heralded the coming clash.
They burst into motion simultaneously.
Nobinaga lunged, thrusting his sword forward with a roar. A torrent of combined water and lightning chakra erupted from the blade in a concentrated beam: Storm Release: Azure Dragon Cannon (Ranton: Seiryūhō)! The beam ripped through the air, obliterating everything in its path, a drilling laser of plasma aimed right at Hiruzen.
Hiruzen braced and raised one hand, focusing his Sage chakra. "Sage Art: Adamantine Staff Unbound (Senpō: Enkōō Enma no Kuchikudaki)!" In an eyeblink, Monkey King Enma reacted to the call. The adamantine staff glowed bright and expanded, not just in length but girth, turning into a massive pillar of unbreakable adamantine spanning between Hiruzen and Nobinaga like a divine rod. The storm beam slammed into the staff and scattered in a spectacular spray of sparks and water, failing to pierce it. Hiruzen gritted his teeth, Sage Mode muscles bulging as he swung the giant staff like a club immediately after.
The colossal adamantine pole crashed toward Nobinaga with explosive force. Nobinaga had to abandon his jutsu and leap back. The ground where he'd stood was pulverized as the huge staff smashed down, leaving a cratered imprint. Before Nobinaga could recover, Hiruzen willed Enma to shrink back to normal size and retracted the staff. With preternatural Sage speed, he flashed through hand signs and clapped his hands together:
"Sage Art: Five Elements Unleashed " Hiruzen intoned. Chakra of every nature swirled around him, a corona of rainbow-hued energy coalescing into a single point in his palms. "All-Creation Blast!"
He thrust his palms forward and a beam of combined elemental chakra roared out, a spiraling helix of fire, water, lightning, earth, and wind intermingled into raw destructive power. This was no ordinary ninjutsu; in Sage Mode, Hiruzen could do what very few ever imagine let alone attempt: fuse all five basic elements into a single devastating attack similar to the bestialized storm release. The multicolored blast tore across the clearing, annihilating the very molecules of air in its wake, howling like a typhoon and burning like the sun.
Nobinaga's face drained of color. In that instant, he knew he could neither block nor counter this head-on. Perhaps only someone like Madara Uchiha in his prime could withstand such a raw surge of nature chakra.
Instinct took over. He formed Senju Rashōmon (Senju Rashōmon), but the onrushing beam cleaved through it like a hot blade through butter. Frantically, he poured every ounce of chakra into evasion, unleashing a desperate Body Flicker(Shunshin no Jutsu) at an angle, pushing his speed to the absolute limit.
The All-Creation Blast grazed him. Even a graze was catastrophic. The edge of the elemental torrent caught Nobinaga's left arm and side as he flash-stepped, vaporizing armor and cloth and searing flesh. He was flung like a rag doll by the passing energy, hurtling through a stand of trees that shattered as his body careened through them. The blast continued onward for hundreds of meters, eviscerating several peaks and flattening the entire mountain range before dissipating into the sky with a peal of thunder.
Hiruzen breathed heavily, the Sage markings around his eyes flickering, maintaining such mode took a toll, especially with that attack. The forest was deathly silent now save for falling rain beginning to hiss against fires, the natural clouds finally releasing a downpour as if to lament the devastation. Steam rose from superheated craters, mingling with cold rain mist.
He dispelled Sage Mode to conserve what he had left and cautiously approached the crash site where Nobinaga had fallen. A broken tree trunk lay across a small crater. Nobinaga Yukesen was underneath, partially pinned, his armor almost entirely torn from his body. His left arm hung limp, the sleeve and plating gone, revealing charred skin beneath. He was coughing, spitting blood, but… incredibly, he was laughing between ragged breaths.
"Heh… heh heh…" Nobinaga's good hand pushed the shattered tree off him with effort. He wobbled to his feet. Blood ran from his scalp down his face, but his eyes… his eyes still burned with defiance and macabre delight.
"Magnificent… Hiruzen, simply magnificent. I see now why they fear you so. You really caught me off guard. If I had known and been prepared, we could have taken the battle to the next level. Alas, I didn't get the chance to give my everything. I know you didn't give yours, either…"
Hiruzen leveled his staff at the injured man, steeling himself for one final exchange. "It's over, Nobinaga.." He was exhausted, chakra nearly half-gone, one rib fractured, but he stood tall and ready. In contrast, Nobinaga's left arm was clearly useless, and he bled from multiple severe wounds. Yet Hiruzen did not underestimate him, a wounded beast can be at its most dangerous.
Nobinaga huffed, trying to catch his breath. He looked around at the absolute ruin that spread for hundreds of kilometres in every direction. Hardly a tree left standing, the ground torn and blasted. Rain fell harder now, pelting both men, washing blood and soot from their bodies.. "Three hours… almost three hours, by my estimate." He nodded toward the horizon behind Hiruzen. "Your village… it will be burning now. Can you smell the smoke on the wind, Sarutobi?"
Hiruzen's heart clenched. He hadn't realized so much time had passed. In the distance, beyond the rain and settling dust, the sky above Konoha was indeed lit with an orange glow, flickers of chakra and fire visible even from here. And rising into the grey clouds was a faint column of black smoke. His keen nose, even though the rain's petrichor, caught the unmistakable scent of ash and fire on the wind. Konoha…
His momentary distraction was all Nobinaga needed. Nobinaga suddenly clasped his one good hand into a tiger seal and slammed it to the ground. Hiruzen tensed, fearing another attack, but instead a thick plume of smoke erupted between them, Summoning Jutsu (Kuchiyose no Jutsu)!
From the smoke burst a colossal, flame-bellied cat—an involuntary reflex from the surprised summon. It wasn't intended to strike Hiruzen, but to divert his attention. The creature's sudden appearance forced him to leap back, narrowly avoiding a torrent of fire. By the time he circled the thrashing summon, Nobinaga had already vanished, slipping away with a Teleportation Jutsu in that moment of distraction.
The flame-construct, clearly perplexed at being summoned here, vanished itself in a puff after a few confused croaks, its contract time ending. And just like that, Hiruzen stood alone in the wrecked clearing, rain matting his hair to his forehead.
He could pursue… but Hiruzen wavered.Every instinct screamed to get to Konoha now. If he chased Nobinaga deeper into the wilds, he might lose precious time that Konohamaru and the village didn't have.
Lightning flashed overhead, followed by a rumble of thunder. Hiruzen closed his eyes, letting the rain cool his burning skin for one precious second. His decision was made.
"Coward," he whispered, though there was grudging respect in his tone.
A rasping cough made Hiruzen turn sharply. Leaning against a crag of broken earth a short distance away was Nobinaga Yukesen or rather, a shadow clone of him, half of its body already crumbling to mud. The clone must have been formed just before his escape. It gave Hiruzen a blood-stained grin as its legs disintegrated.
"You feel it, don't you?" the clone said hoarsely. "The pain in your chest, not from my strike… but from fear. Fear of what you'll find when you reach your village."
Hiruzen glared, not responding, poised to smash the clone if it tried anything.
Nobinaga's clone chuckled, chunks of its shoulder falling away. "I must thank you, Hiruzen. That was the most fun I've had in years. I'd almost forgotten what it felt like to duel a legend." It gave a mock bow, wobbling as its arm crumbled. "Our dance is done for today. I've achieved what I set out to—whether you admit it or not."
Hiruzen stepped forward, grip white-knuckled on Enma. "You achieved nothing. Konoha still stands. When next we meet, I will not hesitate to finish you."
"Perhaps," the clone conceded, voice starting to distort. "But I suspect I won't need to lift a finger. If pain doesn't kill you, the aftermath will. Either way, the mighty Sarutobi will suffer." Its eyes flashed with malice. "I look forward to watching you struggle against the Akatsuki's 'god'. I owe Pain no loyalty, only a debt of entertainment. Consider this my contribution to the show."
"Until next time… old friend." And with that, it splashed into the rain-soaked earth, gone.
Hiruzen stood there for a moment, rain running down his face, mixing with the trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth. He took a shuddering breath and forced himself to move. He could mourn the betrayal of old friends and the folly of war another time. Right now, he had a village to save.
As he bounded forward, Hiruzen's thoughts burned. Hold on…
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Meanwhile, amid the rubbles and ruins of Konoha, three colossal toads emerged, their massive forms blotting out the sky. On the broad, mottled back of the largest sat a whiskered Sarutobi, staff in hand, his gaze as it met the eerie purple halo of the Rinnegan above.
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To Be Continued in Chapter 39…
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